OK so to update this sorry tale, time came to get my g/f the new phone so I used AT&T's site to find stores that showed Z10's in stock. (She said she didn't care about a physical keyboard so the Q10 was no longer a factor.) Company-owned stores have 'em so it was just a few more miles and the rep didn't bat an eye, though she did say "Let me see if we even have any" but returned shortly with the phone. No eye-rolling, no questioning the choice, no suggesting other alternatives. So that's a positive thing.
Then again, no Blackberry phones on display at all, in the enormous store with everything else on display, but that wasn't really a big surprise.
The important part though - got her set up on the Z10 and she's really digging it so far and has figured a few things out on it that I haven't even got into yet. We did end up pulling the Otterbox off it today, and I spared her the "told you so" since I had warned her from the start she was going to hate it. Made it nearly impossible to swipe up.
Richard